Sectional filing cabinet



June 19, 1951 F, Q BROWN 2,557,630

` sECTIoNAL FILING CABINET June 19, 1951 F; Q BROWN sECTIoNAL FILING CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1949 Patented June 19, 1951 lunirsi) srA-rgs PATENT OFFICE 2,557,630 VSECTIONAL FILING CABINET Frederick-Charles Brown, Bisley, England Application April-14, 1949, Serial No. 87,497 In Great Britain May 2.4, 1948 2 Claims. 1

The invention relates to ling cabinets and *more yparticularly to cabinets -for card indexes, the number of units of which can be added to from time to time.

The object is to enable any number of standardized cabinet units vto be assembled -side by side, -and/ or superposed, and interlocked so as to form -a composite cabinet, the interlocking means being of such Va nature as to permit re-arrangement or removal of -units if required and of such form as to avoid the necessity for screws or like small 4fastenings which are difficult to manipulate and liableito be lost.

The invention permits a composite cabinet being -built up roma singleunit to one composed of any desired -number of units according to requirements, and also enables the order or num- Yberoi units to 'be easily changed at any time.

- According -to the invention adjacent cabinet units when assembled are interlocked by rectangular frames or links which have means such as tongues for interlocking engagement within slots in the units.

Each frame yor linkmay be of a size to fit a unit, when it is required merely to interlock two superposed units, or it may be of suiiicientlsize to/rit two or more -units placed side by side when required to interlock two or more units so arranged, such a yframe or link when placed on the two or Ymoreunits being available -or more units which may Vbe superposed on the Mothers.

Two units arranged side by side and interlocked by a frame or link may be placed contiguous to another unit or pair of units, and further units may be superposed on these two pairs of units, and interlocking frames or links be used to interlock adjacent superposed units of each pair.

The composite cabinet so built may be extended by further superposition of units and, by use of the links in the manner last described, the links of one tier or layer will overlap or break joint as it were with those of the next, so that a very rm interlocking of the whole will result.

The interlocking of superposed units renders the composite cabinet so firm that units will not tilt when the drawers are pulled out.

In the accompanying drawings- Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a plan and a rear end elevation of a filing unit.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation on 3 3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a frame for embracing two units, one of which is superposed on the other.

to receive one or two .tongues I6,

(Cl. S12-107) Figure 5 is a perspective view of a frame Afor embracing two pairs of units, one pair being superposedon the other. y

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a filing cabinet composed of twov units, one superposed on the other.

Figure 7 is a front elevation on a smaller scale of a ling cabinet composed of four units, a pair of units being superposed on another pair.

Figure v8 is a front elevation, also on a smaller scale, of a filing cabinet composed of a plurality of tiers of units.

Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating a method of attaching a frame to a unit preparatory to superposing it on another unit.

In one example a filing cabinet is composed of standard units each comprising a metal casing 9 iitted with a drawer I0 as usual with filing units intended, for instance, to contain a card index. The sides and rear end of the casing 9 extend below the Vbottom l I of the casing and have inward anges I2.

Three slots are formed in the rear end, a central slot I3 adjacent to the ange I2 and two slots I4 adjacent to the upper edge and equally spaced from'the side edges of the casing.

'When a cabinet is to 'be formed composed of two units only, one being superposed on thefother as indicated in Figure 6, a frame I5, Figure 4, is used to form an interlocking frame or link between the two units.

The frame I5, conveniently made of sheet metal strip, is provided on its rear end with lower I6, and with an upper tongue II, corresponding With the slots I4, I4 and I3 of the cabinet units. The tongues I6, I6 and I 'I are conveniently formed by making two spaced cuts in the rear member of the frame I5 from the respective edges and bending inwardly the material between the cuts. When the frame I5 is placed on the lower unit the tongues I6, I6 engage within the slots I4, I4 of that unit, and when the upper unit is in position the tongue I'I engages within the slot I3 of that unit.

The frame I5 is preferably provided with two additional tongues I8, I8 on the side members of the frame and nearer the front end. These are intended to bed down on the top of the lower cabinet unit to determine the position of the frame I5 when placed thereon.

When a unit is to be superposed on another it is convenient to rst attach the frame I5 to the upper unit by the tongue I1 as indicated in Figure 9. The tongues I5, I6 are then inserted in the slots I4 of the lower unit. The upper unit and large enough to embrace two one or any number at a time.

the frame l5 are then lowered into position on the lower unit, the frame being arrested in determined position by its tongues I8, I8 bedding down on the top of the lower unit. The upper unit can be easily removed from the lower unit, if required, by simply tilting it and the frame backwards and then pushing back the upper unit to disengage the tongues I6, I6 from the lower unit.

The tongue I6, I6 engaging within the slots Il, I4 and the tongue Il within the slot I3 thus permit detachable interlocking engagement between the frame and the two units.

Large frames for laterally interlocking a plurality of units are of similar construction to the smaller frame above described, the only difference being that each is wide enough to embrace a plurality of units and that it is provided with an adequate number of tongues I6 and I1. For instance, in Figures 5 and 7 a pairs of superimposed units, the tongues I6 and I1 enabling the detachable interlocking engagement. The tongues I8 bed down on the tops of the adjacent lower units.

In Figure 8 a filing cabinet is illustrated composed of standard units detachably interlocked by frames of different sizes, that is a small frame I5 for .interlocking two superposed units, frames I5 fortwo pairs of superposed units, and frames I5 for three pairs of superposed units.

When frames of two or more different sizes are used in building up a cabinet of several tiers and the frames are arranged so that those of one tier overlap or break joint as it were with those of adjacent tiers, a very firm interlocking of the whole is ensured resulting in a composite cabinet which will resist tilting of units even when a large number of drawers are drawn fully out.

Although three different sizes of frame have been illustrated in Figure 8 merely as an example, it will usually be found suicient to use only two sizes of frame, namely, one size for embracing a single unit and another size for embracing two units.

The tongue and slot connections render lt easy to extend a cabinet indenitely by adding units It is also possible to re-arrange the units as required as the units can be easily disassembled moreover Without necessitating the use of screws, bolts or tools.

I claim:

1. A link for interlocking superposed filing and re-assembled, and 5 frame I5' is shown cabinet units, comprising a rectangular frame of flat metal strip for embracing adjacent parts of superposed units, the rear end of said frame near its lower edge having two horizontal inturned tongues struck from said frame, and a centrally disposed horizontal inturned tongue struck from said frame near the upper edge thereof, said tongues being provided for insertion in corresponding slots in adjacent ends of superposed units, and two horizontally inturned tongues struck from the sides of the frame near the front thereof for engagement with the top of. a lower cabinet when two cabinet sections are superposed on one another.

2. The combination of two superposed cabinets. the bottom edges of said cabinets being turned inwardly to provide a flange, each cabinet including a bottom, each bottom having downwardly turned walls, the edges of which rest on said ilange of the cabinet, one end wall of each cabinet near the top thereof having two spaced apart slots, the same end wall near its bottom having a centrally disposed slot, said centrally disposed slot registering with a similar slot formed in the downturned wall on the bottom of the cabinet, a link of at metal extending entirely around the two superposed cabinets at their meeting surfaces, one end of said link having two spaced apart inturned tongues struck from the link at the bottom edge thereof and a centrally disposed tongue struck from the upper edge of said link, the sides of the link near the front of said link having oppositely disposed tongues struck from the link on which the inturned flanges on the bottom edge of one cabinet rest when two cabinets are superposed, the centrally disposed tongue engaging the centrally disposed slot in one cabinet and the aligned slot in the down'- turned wall of the bottom of said cabinet, and the spaced apart tongues engaging in the spaced apart slots in the next adjacent cabinet.

FREDERICK CHARLES BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Fellowes June 21, 1938 

